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Articles in Category: Politics

I have some friends and family who supported President Trump from early on in the process. From time to time they will ask me when I will admit that I was wrong about him. "If Trump does x... If Trump gets y... If Trump supports a policy that results in z... will you admit that you were wrong?" My answer is always "no", because I wasn't wrong. To be clear, I could be wrong in practical application, but that isn't what an election is about. Elections are about theory and speculation and, generally speaking about judging records. Trump had no record to speak of, and his history of stances on issues was all over the map. I opposed his candidacy for several major reasons, all of which are proven valid in this single issue we now refer to as the "travel ban". Here were my reasons.

If you're not familiar with Justice with Judge Jeanine, it is a show on the FOX News Network starring Jeanine Pirro. She is known for her over-the-top rants where she serves up gobs of fresh red meat for her largely hard right wing audience. While it's not unusual for her to be a little fast and loose with the facts, she has been known to occasionally return from the break with a correction from her producers. Last night, however, there was no such correction to an outright lie she told on the show, and the matter being discussed should have (at the very least) contained a disclaimer from the host. I would cut her some slack, but as a former prosecutor and judge, she should be well aware of what proper protocol should have been here.

It's not cute anymore, Republicans. The President of the United States is completely detached from reality, and you can't fix that. You can't cover it up, you can't explain it away, and let me make this as clear as I possibly can for you. You cannot possibly undo the damage you are doing to the party brand by trying to pretend this man is anything other than completely unhinged. I'm watching Sean Hannity borrow guests from the Alex Jones show in an attempt to bolster Trump's conspiratorial claims. I'm seeing relatively mainstream conservatives make themselves look like the crazed fringes of the paranoid right wing. Don't believe me? Look at this.

I'm not sure what President Trump hoped to accomplish in his speech last night, but if it was to look Presidential he totally nailed it. Wow! Where did this guy come from. It's as if the crazy old man who lives next door and yells "get off my lawn" at neighborhood kids as they pass by woke up one morning and instead offers a calm, well worded explanation of personal property rights and the stresses placed on low growing vegetation by excessive foot traffic. We can and will have our disagreements on a lot of things, but I tip my hat to President Trump today. He appeared calm, collected, and in control, and these are three things that had alluded him for quite some time.

Alright, before the Trump fans have a conniption, the sub headline there is a joke. Despite what you might believe if you watched this broad stumble through her confirmation hearing, she has been educated by someone. Somewhere. Someone who probably isn't rushing to the forefront right now to claim her. I scrolled back to December 18th on the Calvin College Facebook page and there was no mention of their Alumnus poised for such a prestigious governmental position. Now in fairness, I have no idea what protocol is for this sort of thing, but I would think it might get a congratulations or at least a mention, but in this case there was none.

These words rang out time and again from Donald Trump during the Presidential campaign. "We're going to build a wall," Trump would exhort his rally audiences. He would then ask them who is going to pay for the wall? "Mexico!", they would yell back. As President, Trump signed an executive order to get the wall started. This lead many people to proclaim that he was keeping his campaign promise. However, the President has asked Congress to pay for the wall with the promise that he would find a way to get the money from Mexico at some point in the future. Then the Administration floated the idea of a 20% tax on Mexican imports. Now before we get into that, let's discuss the notion of keeping promises.

Back during the election process Donald Trump brought this up, and my Facebook friends who supported him started beating me over the head with this study from the PEW Research Center. Why? Because despite being a Republican, I reject the notion of widespread voter fraud. So Trump brings up the conclusion of this study, and it starts a chain reaction among his supporters. "Try to deny it now, Steve." At the time, I told the lovely Ramona that this is what truly bothers me about Trump. I expect the average guy on the street to misunderstand what some of these studies are saying, but for a Presidential Candidate this is pretty basic stuff. So, allow me to lay out my case again why Trump is wrong and I was right, and this time I will have a little affirmation from those in the know.

In the Republican Primaries, Trump's rivals tried to pick him off early by pointing out that Trump had donated to Hillary Clinton and other Democrats. Not to be outdone, Trump quickly countered that he had donated to most of the Republicans on stage as well. While a couple of them declared themselves to not have been recipients of Trump's cash, another one was brazen enough to take the opportunity to ask for another donation. Trump was one step ahead of them. As an outsider, he knew he could expose their corruption, while even bragging about taking part in it, yet use it to tarnish them and escaped unscathed. Here is how he explained how Washington works, and how he played the system.

More From The Axis

Watered Down Travel Ban

I have some friends and family who supported President Trump from early on in the process. From time to time they will ask me when I will admit that I was wrong about him. "If Trump does x... If Trump gets y... If Trump supports a policy that results in z... will you admit that you were wrong?" My answer is always "no", because I wasn't wrong. To be clear, I could be wrong in practical application, but that isn't what an election is about. Elections are about theory and speculation and, generally speaking about judging records. Trump had no record to speak of, and his history of stances on issues was all over the map. I opposed his candidacy for several major reasons, all of which are proven valid in this single issue we now refer to as the "travel ban". Here were my reasons.

Fraudulent Rant by Judge Jeanine

If you're not familiar with Justice with Judge Jeanine, it is a show on the FOX News Network starring Jeanine Pirro. She is known for her over-the-top rants where she serves up gobs of fresh red meat for her largely hard right wing audience. While it's not unusual for her to be a little fast and loose with the facts, she has been known to occasionally return from the break with a correction from her producers. Last night, however, there was no such correction to an outright lie she told on the show, and the matter being discussed should have (at the very least) contained a disclaimer from the host. I would cut her some slack, but as a former prosecutor and judge, she should be well aware of what proper protocol should have been here.

Wake The Hell Up, GOP!

It's not cute anymore, Republicans. The President of the United States is completely detached from reality, and you can't fix that. You can't cover it up, you can't explain it away, and let me make this as clear as I possibly can for you. You cannot possibly undo the damage you are doing to the party brand by trying to pretend this man is anything other than completely unhinged. I'm watching Sean Hannity borrow guests from the Alex Jones show in an attempt to bolster Trump's conspiratorial claims. I'm seeing relatively mainstream conservatives make themselves look like the crazed fringes of the paranoid right wing. Don't believe me? Look at this.